THE thousands of subway passengers who pass through the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station daily, catching A, C or G trains, probably take little note of the abandoned side platform, which served shuttle trains en route to the Court Street IND station between 1936 and 1946, now the beloved NYC Transit Museum. Excursion trains from the Museum still use the adjoining platform tracks. Neither, it’s likely, do they pay much attention to the large blue and gold panels with the letter “L” on the mezzanine, or the blue and gold trim at the roofline. Why L? The L train is nowhere near.
L stands for Loeser’s, a department store founded in 1860 by German immigrant Frederick Loeser (1833-1911), originally selling sewing goods but later developed into a department store along Fulton Street’s department store row, along with stores like Namm’s and Abraham & Straus, which was later sold to Federated Stores (Macy’s) and closed its Fulton Street branch in 2025.
In 1887, Loeser’s moved into a massive five-story building at #484 Fulton Street and Elm Place, some of which is still visible along the narrow, one-block side street. The building pioneered the newfangled electric lights and elevators. Loeser’s prospered until its sale to Namm’s in 1952 and continued under the Loeser’s name until 1957.
I’m amazed these panels are still in existence and so well-maintained. Their origin is a mystery to me; I wonder if Loeser’s paid for them when the station opened in 1936.
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6/2/25